I love this song. The first 3.5 minutes are incredible. There is so much going on here. In particular, what strikes you in the first 3.5 minutes of this song? What is your favorite element in this intro?

I love the way this song literally EXPLODES into being with the guitar/bass duet intertwined with the keyboard, then drops into the
quieter - but no less moody - bass solo on top of the keyboard layers. And then the build up back to the explosion - WOW! This whole section is a tremendous setup for the rest of the song. But I'll narrow it down to the initial explosion, especially on the YESSONGS version. Talk about getting out of the blocks!

<font color=blue>I love the duet of the bass with Steve's guitar. Listen closely and you hear how they are in unison ascending, and then descending. Then they split apart: one ascending while the other descending, only to once again be in unison, sometimes octaves apart. It seems mathematical to me, sort of a mirrored line, then paralleled, as they interweave throughout this intro. Mentally I think of two jetplanes or birds flying side by side. Following the notes as they step up and down, they ascend and dive, at times in unison, other times opposite eachother. But that's just me & my imagination.</font id=blue><img src=pix/silly.gif border=0 align=middle>

After hearing this song so many times, the thing I like the best is the way that Igor played it on the OYE tour. You need a pretty decent bootleg and you really need to listen close to hear it, but once you hear it you'll never forget it. He played it differently than Rick, Patrick or Kaye ever played it(although, I don't think Kaye ever really played it. He just stood and watched Rick play)

The part I'm talking about is the fast ascending and descending runs in G# that start about 20 seconds into the song and repeat multiple times.

the whole song is great, the intro is amazing
but if I have to pick a favorite moment
3:28 into the song (on the Fragile CD)
for the first 3:20 Squire is "playing" his bass in non-human, super-hero mode. but at 3:28 he trancends even all that and "sings" with his bass.
honorable mention, 9:20 to 10:00

I'm wandering how many times the incredable talent that saturates this peice of music is loast to the casual listener.

Bill Brufords drumming, the best he ever did. Like Yes in a nutshell: The thundering drums that go along with the bass and the guitar knocks you off your feet. The amazing thing is how he adds those little jazzy touches here and there. That's what makes a great Yes song even greater. Don't have the record by my side now, so I can't give you time codes, but it's all over the place. Just following the drums on this track is amazing. This kind of creative drumming is probably what I miss most about Yes in recent years.

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<b>jjoneski wrote:</b>
<font color=blue>I love the duet of the bass with Steve's guitar. Listen closely and you hear how they are in unison ascending, and then descending. Then they split apart: one ascending while the other descending, only to once again be in unison, sometimes octaves apart. It seems mathematical to me, sort of a mirrored line, then paralleled, as they interweave throughout this intro. Mentally I think of two jetplanes or birds flying side by side. Following the notes as they step up and down, they ascend and dive, at times in unison, other times opposite eachother. But that's just me & my imagination.</font id=blue><img src=pix/silly.gif border=0 align=middle>

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<b>OB1kenOB wrote:</b>
the whole song is great, the intro is amazing
but if I have to pick a favorite moment
3:28 into the song (on the Fragile CD)
for the first 3:20 Squire is "playing" his bass in non-human, super-hero mode. but at 3:28 he trancends even all that and "sings" with his bass.
honorable mention, 9:20 to 10:00
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></font id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Yeah, that 3:28 is very subtle, but I'm feeling you. I know what you mean. That's a great thing about great Yes music. They rise and fall, explode then float within single breaths of their music. Hugely powerful!

I'm with you on this one. My favorite part of this song starts at about 30 seconds, after the initial onslaught of rythym (oooh, I hate spelling that word).

Anyways, Bill's drums from 30" to 1:50" are absolutely spellbinding. Incredibly powerful stuff, especially with Squire accompanying him and Steve coming from the depths, slowly but surely to reignite the fast-tempo pace.

This was the first `Classic Yes' song that grabbed me!!!
Those first few moments are incredible! I love Bruford`s drum work on this, the bass riff is one of Squire`s all time best, aand the element that i`m really impressed with is Rick`s use of the mellotron. It creates a very atmospheric sound.And when Howe kicks in with the guitar riff, you`re in heaven.
HOTS is the first song off the compilation ,`Classic Yes'my indoctrination to their sound and ever since then, I`ve been a fan.
So blame it all on HOTS